Sign the Petition: Let Ali and Abdulai in the United States
Last summer, Jacob George and I, two Afghanistan veterans, returned to the war-torn country as unarmed civilians to visit the Afghan Peace Volunteers in Kabul. The two members we spent most of our time with were Abdulai and Ali, who were 15 years old at the time. Now, Abdulai and Ali want to visit the United States to continue the reconciliation process and build bridges between movements for peace and justice across the world. But they need our help.
Sign the petition for Abdulai and Ali's visas
When Jacob and I first saw videos of Abdulai and Ali speaking, we were suspicious of the translations’ authenticity. They spoke with a clarity and awareness rarely found in the most experienced adults, yet these Afghan boys were only teenagers. We were quickly proven wrong, struck by their wisdom, their openness, and their forgiveness. Abdulai insisted, “I don’t want to take revenge. It doesn’t solve the problem,” while Ali explained, “Blood cannot wash away blood.”
Abdulai and Ali know intimately what is at stake when they call for withdrawal of U.S. forces. The boys are from Bamiyan Province, the site where the Taliban infamously brought down the towering Salsal and Shamama Buddha statues carved into the Bamiyan Valley.
Abdulai recalls how the Talban were initially greeted as liberators until they began killing locals. He fled with his community into the mountains. Too young to walk, he was carried on a relative’s back. Abdulai’s father was killed by the Taliban.
Ali’s uncle was also murdered by the Tailban. IVAW’s Operation Recovery hits home for Ali and his family. Today, his brother is a soldier in the Afghan National Army. Reflecting on veteran PTSD in the United States, Ali noted that his brother has changed—no longer the calm person he was before enlisting in the military, his brother has symptoms of hyper-arousal. The trauma of war extends to the home as well. After Ali’s brother was involved in a rocket attack fired from the Af-Pak border into Kunar Province, his mother was “hysterical” as she worried about her son, as though her world was falling apart.
While some leaders continue to divide Afghans and Americans, Jacob and Abdulai proved just how close we all are. When they first met, Abdulai asked Jacob where he was from. “I’m from the Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas.”
“Well, I’m from the Bamiyan Mountains in Afghanistan,” said Abdulai. “What were you doing before you came here?”
“I was helping a bunch of friends harvest some potatoes in the Ozarks.”
“I was just getting ready to work my potatoes!” Abdulai exclaimed.
“Man,” Jacob smiled, “in the United States they call us hillbillies.”
“Well, in Afghanistan, they call us mountain boys.”
For the remaining trip, much of Jacob and Abdulai’s conversations revolved around “the absurdity of training farmers to kill farmers while the whole world starves,” remembered Jacob.
Last May, Afghanistan veterans and Afghans united forces in Chicago to protest NATO, but that was merely the closing of a chapter. Ali and Abdulai wish to fly to Chicago to carry on the story of the Afghan and veteran movement against the Afghanistan War. If they can obtain U.S. visas, they can join the Caravan for Peace from Chicago to Washington, D.C. The Caravan is part of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, a Mexico-based movement against the War on Drugs and Mexican gang violence. Connecting the War on Drugs to the War on Terror will shed light on the broader problem of miliatarism in U.S. foreign policy.
But Ali and Abdulai need our help. Obtaining a visa as an Afghan is a challenge, but if we can get enough signatures on this petition, you can make Abdulai and Ali’s dream come true. Returning to Afghanistan was a healing journey for Jacob and I. Let’s help Ali and Abdulai through their healing and reconciliation process and expose Americans to the perspective of the occupied.
Sign the petition for Abdula and Ali's visas
First Row: Abdulai (far right).
Second Row: Ali (second from left), Jacob (third), Brock (fourth).
